Today I wrote an article mostly about our mayor (click here to read).
Truthfully, I started writing this article with the idea being, "why would anyone want to be mayor?"
I have known the current and past mayor fairly well and it seems the headaches far outweigh the benefits. It takes a lot of time. People generally spend more time complaining about what your doing rather than giving any credit or praise. So why do it?
Honestly, some of it would be the prestige. I love the musical Les Miserables and there is a moment when Jean Valjean comes out and is singing and to show how far he has come and how great he is states, "I am the Mayor of the town." But whatever prestige comes with the job has to wear off fairly quickly.
I think the best reason to do it would be because you enjoy it. You enjoy the interaction with the public and the staff. You enjoy seeing what goes on behind the scenes and participating in committees you serve on. You love reading about past laws and local policy. You enjoy feeling like you make a difference. As I stated in my article, I plan to write several articles about those I think should and, if I get to it, some I think shouldn't run, both for Mayor and City Council. If you have anyone you recommend that I write about let me know.
Yes, it seems that working at any job, public or private, would be challenging if the individual didn't have a healthy dose of passion about it...and thick skin, especially in our growing contentious culture. When are you throwing YOUR hat in the ring? ;)
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